ground networks for fear that they would not make it in time. However, after multiple waves of deportations, even those papers would not be enough. With so many Jews fleeing to different parts of Poland, hiding in Warsaw, or being exempt from deportation, the Nazis were unable to meet their quotas and began rounding up anyone they saw, and by the end of the first Aktion, 52,000 Jews had been deported. Angered by the adults’ lack of response, the Freedom youth group established their own force: the Jewish Fighting Organization, or Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ZOB). Zivia Lubetkin, the only elected female leader in ZOB, had been the one who organized the couriers of Warsaw to gather and spread information throughout Poland. Now they would need to make good use of the connections she put in place to carry out operations to sabotage the Nazis and save their people. Other female leaders—Tosia Altman, Frumka Płotnicka, and Leah Pearstein— were sent to forge ties and procure weapons. While they waited, the ZOB decided to make their influence known, and three groups were given tasks. The first would be sent out to inform everyone of the new fighting force, the second (including Zivia) would set fire to abandoned homes and Nazi warehouses of looted goods, and the third would assassinate the Jewish police chief who was now working under Nazi command. All three groups were successful, and that same night, the Russians bombed the area for the first time. However, even with the success of the operation and the newly flowing supply of weapons, their happiness was short-lived. Anxious Jews tore down ZOB recruitment flyers and beat up those who were trying to put up more on the
(below) Zivia’s group sets fire to one of many Nazi warehouses that held stolen Jewish property of which had been meticulously organized by value.
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